At times, the Chicago Blackhawks had a tough time cracking the Detroit defense in their seven-game Western Conference semifinals series.
And ‘Hawks forward Marian Hossa knows his team hasn’t seen anything yet.
“You thought maybe there was little room against the Red Wings, against the Kings there’s going to be a little less,” said Hossa, per Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times.
“They play a physical game. We play a quick game, and we know how we can beat them. We just have to use our quickness.”
Chicago boasted the NHL’s second-best offense during the regular season, averaging 3.1 goals per game. With Hossa, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, and Duncan Keith, there’s no shortage of creativity on the roster.
But San Jose had offensive talent, too, and the Kings -- with their hard-checking style, not to mention the brilliant goaltending of Jonathan Quick -- limited the Sharks to just 10 goals in seven games.
Of course, the ‘Hawks don’t plan on being the only ones getting hit out there.
“We expect a hard forecheck and hard game against us,” said coach Joel Quenneville. “We want to do what we can physically as well.”